Mount Umunhum Summit Restoration

Client: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Location: Santa Clara County, California

Year Completed: 2017

Mount Umunhum Summit is a restored mountain top in the Santa Cruz Mountains that transformed a former Cold War radar station into a public landscape. RDG's design integrated sweeping 360-degree Bay Area views with carefully composed trails, overlooks, shade structures, and interpretive elements that frame the site's ecological and cultural history.

The mountain is part of the ancestral landscape of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, for whom Mount Umunhum holds deep spiritual and cultural significance. The design recognizes the peak as a sacred place and incorporates a ceremonial circle for celebration and reflection on its enduring meaning to Indigenous people.

As the prime consultant, RDG balanced rugged mountain character with accessible public experience and reclaimed an iconic summit as a place for contemplation, education, and connection to its layered natural and human histories. The project won awards for Excellence in Park Planning from the California Park and Recreation Society, Excellence in Park Planning from the American Society of Civil Engineers, and California Great Places from the American Planning Association.